Minister for Finance KP leading Dairy Science Park team to Thailand

A team of the Dairy Science Park would be attending biorisk management meeting at Thailand during April, 2017, to be led by Minister for Finance, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr Muzaffar Said. The team would comprise members from World Bank, University of Agriculture Peshawar, University of FATA, Khyber Medical University, provincial departments of Law, Planning and Development, Higher Education, KP Chamber of Commerce and Industries and District Administration. The visit is being sponsored by Sandia National Laboratories USA and organized by the Dairy Science Park Peshawar.

A collaboration on “Biorisk Management” is in process with the Sandia National Laboratories USA. A four-members delegation of the Park visited the Netherlands in March 2015 for launching the initiative and a 9-members delegation met in Dubai to hold the Pakistan Biorisk Management Curriculum Workshop for Universities in the Pakistan and the Region. A collaboration was initiated with the Khyber Medical University Peshawar under an MoU to develop quality control standards and introduce into local livestock production, processing, marketing and services network, for protecting public health.

A consultative workshop was held at Bangkok, Thailand, participated by experts of Dairy Science Park (DSP), Peshawar, Pakistan and Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA. The workshop was focused on the objectives of biorisk management (BRM), identifying courses where Biorisk Management Curriculum can be inserted into existing curricula of Pakistani Universities, development of new courses, and formulating other measures for biorisk management.

During the wrap-up session, it was agreed upon that UAP/KMU will prepare the contents of their curricula and add BRM topics into it within a one month period. UAP/KMU will use the BRM materials provided in thumb drives for university curricula. A draft proposal will be submitted for leadership training on BRM through DSP to Sandia Labs. TOT programs will be continued by DSP members at UAP, KMU, and other partner organizations and individuals by Sandia Labs (more courses on BRM). DSP will prepare its initial proposal for the development of funding through Sandia Labs support (matching the non-proliferation scope and US select agent list – infectious diseases).

KMU will allocate a special workshop for BRM concepts and DSP concepts in their upcoming 8th Annual Health Research Conference scheduled for February 2017. A technical committee would be constituted by KMU for biorisk management to oversee relevant teaching and research programs. DSP will take the leading role in biorisk management in Pakistan and the Region, recommending standardization of practices and quality control protocols at various laboratories of veterinary, medical, agricultural, and other biological sciences. Livestock and poultry farms will be provided biosafety and biosecurity guidelines.

Meat and dairy processing factories and shops would be provided appropriate training, capacity development support, and procedures to prevent health hazards. Sandia Labs may continue their work to develop a curriculum on biorisk management as it is significantly important for the people who are engaged in designing courses/contents development on the core issues of BRM. Risk assessment and GAP analysis may be further focused in prioritized areas of DSP related to Veterinary, Public Health, and Community Development. Future linkages may be further strengthened through such collaboration between Sandia Labs, DSP, and its development partners like the University of Agriculture Peshawar, Khyber Medical University, and others.

Keeping in view the importance of the subject, biorisk management would be given appropriate consideration while developing teaching programs at national level. Sticky notes prepared during technical session Attending group presentations. DSP in collaboration with Parliamentarians would arrange a meeting/conference for effective legislation in the KP region. It was also focused that proper Bio/Hospital Waste disposal system should be established. The core team should be exposed to a practical workshop at Sandia Labs. Community Farmers should be educated for establishing entrepreneurship using yardstick of BRM.

The University of Agriculture Peshawar has already incorporated 2 credit hours course of BRM in their existing setup through the relevant board of studies. So training from Sandia Labs would be extremely significant for concerned persons dealing with running the existing courses and those to be incorporated in the future. Sandia Labs is already working on vector borne diseases in different regions in the world. Risk assessment and vector borne diseases would be included in BRM roadmap areas of Veterinary, Public Health, and Community Development. Collaboration of Sandia Labs and DSP may be strengthened further.